Bill guard for fowls



July 1, 1941. L. M. BUTTERFIELD BILL GUARD FOR FOWLS Filed Jan. 16, 1941 101a}; 1 1 Buffer/add Patented July 1, 1941 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 7 Claims.

This invention relates to an improved bill guard for fowls adapted to be attached to the lower mandible of a fowl to prevent the bill from being fully closed and to thereby prevent the fowl from picking or pulling feathers due to the fact that it will keep the bill open suificiently to prevent the mandibles from contacting at their outer ends.

More particularly, it is an aim of the invention to provide a metal guard of simple construction adapted to be applied around the under side of the lower mandible and having means for effectively preventing the guard from being accidentally detached.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter become more fully apparent from the following description of the drawing, which illustrates a preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational View showing the head of a fowl and showing the guard applied to the lower mandible,

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the guard,

Figure 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the same,

Figure 4 is a longitudinal sectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 4-4 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is an enlarged front elevational View of the guard, and

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional View taken substantially along the plane of the line 6-6 of Figure 3.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, wherein like reference characters designate like or corresponding parts throughout the different views, I0 and II designate respectively the upper and lower mandibles of a fowl and I2 designates generally the guard, comprising the invention, and which, as illustrated in Figure 1, is applied on the lower mandible II.

The guard I2 is preferably formed of a strip of relatively light and thin metal which converges in width from one end to the opposite end thereof and which is bent into substantially channel shaped form in cross section. The channeled shaped guard converges from its rear end toward its forward end and the sides thereof slope downwardly from the rear end of the guard toward the forward end thereof, as best seen in Figure 2. The guard I2 is adapted to fit around the under, outer side of the lower mandible I I and its sides I3 are provided with inturned flange portions I4 which extend from the rear ends of the sides I3 to points adjacent the forward ends thereof and which are adapted to engage the side edge portions of the upper, inner side of the lower mandible I l. The intermediate, bottom portion I5 of the guard I2 is cut-out at [-6 to form a tongue I! which projects toward the forward, restricted end I8 of the guard. The tongue I! is adapted to be bent upwardly so that the free end thereof will 'be disposed in the recess, not shown, in the under side of the mandible II and which terminates short of the forward end thereof, for preventing the guard I2 from being slid forwardly and off of the mandible II. The flanges I4 prevent the guard from being detached from the mandible I I by a downward movement relatively thereto. The side edges I3 at the forward ends I8 are bent outwardly to form the shoulders I9 which are adapted to combine with the flanges I I for engaging the lower side of the upper mandible II] to effectively prevent the mandibles I0 and I I from being moved to a fully closed position.

In Figure 1, the guard I2 is shown applied with the mandibles I0 and II closed as much as possible and it will be readily obvious that the guard I2 will prevent a fowl from picking or pulling feathers due to the fact that the outer ends of the mandibles cannot be closed fully for grasping a feather. The guard I2 is sufficiently light in weight that it will not interfere with other normal activities of the fowl and the parts I4 and I! will effectively retain the guard in position so. that it cannot be accidentally detached.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated and may obviously be resorted to as only a preferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A device of the character described com.- prising a guard constructed and arranged to engage around the under side of the lower mandible of a fowl, said guard being provided with inturned edges for engaging the upper side of the side edges of the lower mandible and disposed between the mandibles for preventing the mandibles from being fully closed, and a tongue struck-up from the intermediate portion of the guard and disposed in a recess in the under side of the lower mandible for retaining the guard in position thereon.

2. A device as in claim 1, said guard being channel shaped in cross section and converging from its rear end toward its forward end.

3. A device of the character described cornprising a guard disposed on the outer side of a mandible of a fowl, said guard being channel shaped in cross section from end to end thereof, a spring tongue projecting inwardly from the guard, intermediate of its ends, for releasably retaining the guard in position, and said guard being provided with flanged portions disposed between the upper and lower mandibles to pre vent them from being fully closed.

4. A device of the character described comprising a metal guard constructed and arranged to engage around the under side of the lower mandible of a fowl, said guard being channel shaped in cross section and being tapered toward its forward end, said guard having side edges including inturned portions disposed between the upper and lower mandibles and outturned portions, at the restricted end of the guard, for engaging the upper mandible and for combining with said inturned portions to prevent the bill of the fowl from being fully closed.

5. A device as in claim 4, said guard having a struck-up tongue in its intermediate portion for engaging the under side of the lower mandible for retaining the guard in position thereon.

6. A device of the character described comprising a channel shaped guard formed of metal for engaging around the outer side of the lower mandible of a fowl, said guard being tapered from one end to the opposite end thereof, portions of the side edges of said guard being turned inwardly to form flanges for engaging the upper side of the lower mandible, said guard being provided with a tongue struck-up from its intermediate portion for engaging the under side of the lower mandible and for combining with said flanges for retaining the guard in position thereon, the side edges of the guard, adjacent its thickest end, being bent to project outwardly to provide shoulders for engaging the upper mandible to prevent closing of the bill.

'7. A bill guard for fowls comprising an elongated channel shaped guard member, said guard member being channel shaped from end to end thereof and being tapered from one end to adjacent its opposite end for engaging around the outer side of a mandible of a fowl and between the ends of the mandible, means for releasably retaining the guard in an applied position, and said guard being provided with an outturned portion at its restricted end for engaging the other mandible of the fowl, adjacent the tip of said last mentioned mandible to prevent closing of the mandibles.

LOUIS M. BUTTERFIELD. 

